Three days to go! 97% believe Dubai will win Expo 2020 bid

If Dubai wins Expo 2020, 76 per cent of respondents expect a positive or significant impact on the real estate sector while only 11 per cent would expect a limited impact on market pricing

While 95 per cent of UAE residents support Dubai’s bid for Expo 2020, 97 per cent believe the Emirate is likely or very likely to win the Expo 2020 bid,[2] a report said. A successful bid by Dubai for Expo 2020 will have a positive impact on the stock market, real estate and foreign direct investments, added the Dubai Expo 2020 Survey by CFA Society Emirates, the UAE member society of CFA Institute, published ahead of the final decision by Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) on November 27. Based on feedback from approximately 215 investment professionals in the UAE, it highlights key insights on the potential effect of a successful bid from Dubai and views on the potential of another economic bubble in the Emirates. Key findings of the survey: • While 56 per cent of respondents expect a positive impact on stock market prices if Dubai wins Expo 2020 but that a lot of speculation activity has already happened in anticipation of the win, 19 per cent of CFA charterholders expect there will be a significant impact and 27 per cent believe there will be only a selective impact • If Dubai wins Expo 2020, 76 per cent of respondents expect a positive or significant impact on the real estate sector while only 11 per cent would expect a limited impact on market pricing • Only 4 per cent believe the costs associated with hosting Expo 2020 will create a debt burden on the UAE economy • More than half of respondents (55 per cent) are concerned that a successful bid for Expo 2020 will create another economic bubble with only one-quarter of charterholders believing the UAE has done enough to make its economy immune since 2008 • Charterholders overwhelmingly support increasing regulation to increase the economy’s immunity to another bubble, [3]with 87 per cent of respondents favouring real estate regulation and 75 per cent of respondents favouring bank regulation • More than half of respondents (56 per cent) predict easier procedures for starting businesses would help protect the UAE from another bubble “Investment professionals in the UAE are very supportive of Dubai’s bid for Expo 2020 and nearly unanimous is their belief that Dubai will win the bid,” summarised Amer Khansaheb, CFA, president of CFA Society Emirates. “The stock market, real estate and foreign direct investment sectors are all expected to be beneficiaries if Dubai wins but many are concerned that a successful bid will create another economic bubble. “CFA charterholders believe more government regulation and easier procedures for starting new businesses in the UAE would potentially help protect the economy from excessive speculation,” he added. –